Providing onsite computer care for metro-west "495" area of Massachusetts

Are you looking for someone you can trust to come into your home or business?
A mature individual trusted by police departments to handle their servers and data?
A former Army captain with a top-secret clearance who worked for the NSA?
Please consider the services of PC Doctor Ed Sterling

My scanner doesn't work anymore (or, it never did!!)

Scanners typically connect to your PC via a USB cable, or some older models connect using the old parallel port (used by older printers). REALLY old scanners sometimes connected using "SCSI" adapters which are all but gone entirely now.

There are two types of scanners today: "standalone" scanners that do nothing but scan; and, multi-function printer/scanner/fax combination machines. All scanners require a connection to the PC, and they need some software to tell Windows how to communicate with the scanner (this software is called a "driver").

Most scanners allow for control at the scanner (using buttons on the scanner), and control at the PC using a Windows program. That is, you can press a button on the scanner and it will scan a document or photo and send it to the PC, or you can start a program in Windows that will wake up the scanner and have it scan the document or photo. Typically the Windows-based control program gives you more options and more control over how to scan the document or photo, and where to put the resulting image.

If a scanner doesn't work, look for the obvious such as a loose cable. Scanners don't get used that often and the control cable or even the power cord may have been pulled out by accident. If the "SCAN" button on the scanner fails to start a scan, or, the Windows program fails to wake up the scanner, check if the "driver" software is properly installed. Usually you need to examine the Device Manager in Windows to see if there are any errors. The Device Manager can be found by right-clicking the My Computer icon, and selecting Properties (with a left click). Then the Hardware tab is left-clicked, and then the Device Manager button is left-clicked. In the resulting display, you would look for a yellow or red warning symbol in the list of all devices, obviously on a device entry with the name of your scanner or multi-function machine. If you see it, you may not have the correct "driver." At this point, most people need to call for help from someone familiar with device "drivers" and who knows how to obtain the correct one for your scanner.

The PC Doctor can always come to the rescue and help you install scanners, printers, and multi-function printer/scanner/fax machines.

Call Ed Sterling at 978-779-6058 from 9 a.m. until 10 p.m. 
Or Email: pcdoctorhousecalls@comcast.net
(There is no charge for a brief assessment of your computer problem)

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